William F. Cramer Collection

Collection Overview

Resources

William F. Cramer taught trombone at Florida State University for more than 30 years, starting in the 1950s. He was a founding member of the International Trombone Association, and received their distinguished service award in 1987. Over the course of his distinguished career, he played a major role in the promotion and development of repertoire for his instrument.

In 1982, Dr. Cramer donated a significant portion of his collection to the Music Library. The collection contains approximately 250 works, of which more than 100 are manuscript facsimiles. Many works in the collection remain unpublished. Composers from both the Americas and Europe (particularly East Europe and Russia) are represented.

Most of the pieces were composed by contemporaries of Cramer, and many were composed as a direct result of Dr. Cramer's activity. Many of the scores are inscribed by the composer or Dr. Cramer, or both. Most works are for piano and trombone; however, there are also pieces accompanied by organ, orchestra or band, as well as pieces for trombone alone.

Individual titles do not appear in our online catalog. FSU alumnus Paul William Overly's dissertation, An annotated guide to the William F. Cramer Collection of Solo Trombone Literature in the Warren D. Allen Music Library at Florida State University (ML128.T76 O93 1990) describes the contents of the collection in detail.

Also included in the collection are four boxes of correspondence with with composers, publishers, and other musicians, dating from 1947-1989. The letters are partly organized chronologically and partly by nationality.

The collection is available for research by appointment in the music library. For information, please contact our Head Librarian, Laura Gayle Green.